Jafar's a bad guy he picks his nose.

So things couldn't get better in our house. Lilah is growing like a little weed and seems to get happier and more vocal everyday. McKenna is throwing SOOOOO much less temper tantrums (T/G!) and I am getting more sleep. Time really does seem to become more fleeting when you have children. I honestly don't know how I have enough time in the day to get anything done, but somehow things have been working themselves out.
We had a really great Mothers Day weekend. We took the girls to Tacoma and stayed in a hotel over night so we could go to the Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma Childrens Musuem and take the girls swimming. I had my doubts about how things would play out since we were all sleeping in the same room but everyone behaved quite well. It was Lilahs first time in a swimming pool and she sure soaked it up. I have never seen a baby that little enjoy herself so much, she was cooing and smiling the whole time. McKenna enjoyed swimming too (as usual) and didn't want to leave the "Tel" room, as she calls it, when Sunday hit.
The fun didn't end on Sunday though because Mark took today (Monday) off and we got to spend time with his sister Sue who came to visit from Utah for the week. We were so happy to get to spend time with her and McKenna was especially taken with her Aunt Sue showing her all over the house and outside, it's wonderful to get to see Sue and we hope that she gets to come visit more often.
The last news I have for now is a congrats to friends Casey & Todd Schoepflin. Their foster-to-adopt baby arrived in their home Thursday of last week, I have yet to meet the little angel, but saw pictures and she is a beautiful little baby. We wish you guys the best and love you mucho.
Jaime

“It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness takes its toll.”

“Time, Time, Time, see what’s become of me.”

Busy is how I would sum up our life recently. It seems even more now that there aren’t enough hours in the day to complete all of the tasks we have to do. But we’re getting along, and enjoying life as it happens.


For all intents and purposes, we finally got the back deck finished and it looks great! (I still have to go back and screw all of the boards down the rest of the way). We used Trex Contours and inlaid some porcelain tile for a fire pit area. A heartfelt thanks to Shawn, Jeff, Connor and Gary for all of the help throughout the process.

Jaime has gone back to working nights now. Jaime comes in to work at 5pm with the kids (most of the time they are napping during the car ride). I come out of work and she goes in. I take the kids home, sometimes stopping at the park to play if they are awake and it’s nice outside, change diapers, feed them, play with them, change them again, get their pajamas on, and put them to bed. All in 3-4 hours! I can’t imagine being a single parent. I really enjoy spending the alone time with my girls and getting to see Lilah develop a little personality of her own. She smiles at everything now and is starting to giggle, although her giggles usually turn into a coughing fit (she hasn’t quite got that whole breathing and swallowing together thing down yet.) McKenna has really taken to Lilah and always asks to help out by feeding her or changing her diapers. McKenna is very protective of Lilah and is a really great big sister. We are very fortunate to have 2 wonderful, beautiful kids.

Since Lilah’s birth about 3-1/2 months ago we purchased a new camera (Nikon D40x) which rocks! Jaime and I have been going nuts taking so many pictures that it’s now a chore to go through them and weed out the not so good ones. We take on average about 1,100 pictures per month. Good thing it’s digital and we don’t have to pay to process!

Among other reasons, and since I’ve not had much time to work on the website at home, we also purchased a new laptop computer. I figured that I would be able to update the website and go through all of the pictures, and edit our family videos during my lunch hour at work. I might even be able to drum up some more website development work for some extra $$$ (That’s a good excuse, right?) This computer rocks! It’s so much faster than the 5 year old desktop we have. And although I thought I was going to have a lot of problems with Microsoft’s Vista, it has worked flawlessly for me so far. I think I might prefer it over XP now, although I’ve read and heard that you have to have a fast computer to reliably run it. I recently finished uninstalling all of the needless programs that come with the computer, and installing the ones I need. I’m well on my way to a complete website overhaul so look for that in the coming weeks.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope all is well with you and yours. Stay tuned for more information.

She's 2 months old!

Things are going great in chez Beadnell. Lilah is 9 weeks old and is getting bigger and more fun with each passing day. She smiles alot now and coos happily when Mark & I tickle her. McKenna is really great with Lilah and gives her kisses and hugs when she cries, I have to say though, McKenna has become more work ten Lilah lately. She is in her terrible twos now and is as obstinant and cranky as a child can possibly be. She no longer takes naps and she gets into everything you tell her not to. She also has a ton of little sayings know that help get her point across "Don't touch that," "I said no mommy," "Are you mocking me?" etc.
She thinks she's the boss.....well she is the boss, but don't tell her that.
The girls both have colds (Lilahs first) so we have been stuck indoors and staying near home the past few days and I am starting to go a bit stir crazy, but other than that I'd say we have been pretty lucky lately. No unexpected stuff has happen to ruin our little role we have going on. Hopefully I will be able to blog again soon!
Until then,
Jaime

Update from 2 blogs ago

Hi again all.....it seems I was a bit mistaken 2 blogs ago when I said McKenna perfected the alphabet. It seems the letter L is not her only hang up. Upon more careful examination of her verbiage it has been determined there may be another bit of the alphabet that confuses her....don't believe me....well, take a look for yourself.
*****Below is a written re-inactment of McKennas alphabet song, you may sing along if you desire*****
A B C D E F G H I J K I DON'T WANT TO PEE Q R S T U V W X Y AND Z NOW I KNOW MY A B C'S NEXT TIME WON'T YOU SING WITH ME.

Until next time,
Jaime

Sleep deprivation, Babies and dancing pigs

It's been one month since Lilah has joined our household and I am proud to announce that even through my lack of sleep, inadequate diet, and lack of contact with the outside world, I have not mistakenly blown up the house, accidentally shipped my children to Adu Dhabi or begun drooling and crying incessantly. That's right, I have thus far survived.
I think Lilah is sleeping better through the night now, but as with most things at this point in my sleep deprived life, I could be wrong....maybe I am just getting use to being in hyper drive 24/7. When I do sleep, my dreams are so vivid I could swear they are real....(if they ARE real, please let my dancing cloned pig Leroy know he missed ballet lessons if you see him), and none of my dreams ever seem to get an appropriate ending as they are disturbed by a beautiful little cry that sends me careening straight back into reality.
I really shouldn't complain anymore though because I do have an exceptionally beautiful new baby girl in addition to my already perfect little posse. She is growing so fast that I am almost ready to retire some of her newborn attire and she is already out of the newborn diapers and sailing through the next size up like she won't be wearing those long either. Today I took her to the aquarium with McKenna and Grandpa Rich for the first time and last week we went to the zoo. She seemed completely disinterested both times, but was a bit more interested at the aquarium (I think she could see the colors at the tropical exhibit) every time we passed a bright fish her eyes would get really huge. McKenna was great at the aquarium too....she is really into Nemo so naturally that tank was her favorite. It's not as hard as I thought it would be taking both girls places to visit. As long as I keep in perpetual motion, Lilah remains calm and as long as I keep McKenna constantly busy tantrums don't ensue. The only place I am utterly petrified to take both girls at this point is the grocery store so naturally that won't be happening for my large shopping visits for quite some time. Between McKenna pulling things off shelves and Lilah screaming every time the cart stopped I do believe I would leave the store bald and with a few more nervous ticks then I already have. Well, I suppose that's all for now. Both of my beans are asleep and I have a moment to relax before hyper-drive kicks in again (or I am asleep having a wonderful dream about sleeping babies...in which case PLEASE don't wake me)
Until next time,
Jaime

Bean 1 and Bean 2 updates

Hi Everyone!
Things have been moving along swimmingly in the Beadnell House. I am getting use to the lack of sleep although it is getting a little bit better every week. I have somehow been able to get Lilah on the every three hour meal schedule which has helped quite a bit in the slumber arena. She is officially two weeks old and getting smarter and more beautiful every day. We took her in for her first official check up at 11 days old and (you better sit down for this) she weighed in at 9lbs 1 oz! No typo, really....she almost gained a full pound just 11 days after birth (she weighed 8lbs 4 oz when she was born). And her height, weight and head size are all in proportion right now at 75% percentile each. What can I say, Mark & I breed perfection. Two perfect children, two lucky parents! <-Maybe I should go into the animal breeding business next, if this kind of luck carries over into different animal species as well I could be raising derby winners and best in show with no work at all.... :) Of course, that would only happen if Mark would let me buy a couple of dogs and horses to test out my theory hmmmm I let you know how that one develops.

I have some great news about bean #1 too. McKenna is now an alphabet aficinado. She has been reciting the alphabet like a champ the past few days and only gets caught up on the letter "L" which has always given her some trouble. She is such a great big sister and is so loving towards Lilah that I am finding the bigget problem in the home front is getting some Lilah time to myself. McKennas new favorite thing is laaying in the crib and pretend sleeping with Lilah. She gives her the biggest wetest smooches you have ever seen and bear hugs so big I have to ask her to be more gentle because I am afraid they may be too much for little Lilah. I am so happy that this last week has been an easy transition for McKenna, being that it was her first week staying home with mommy and Lilah and not attending daycare. I thought things would be bumpy at first, but she seems to be enjoying the time home and loves to fawn over her new sister. Well, Lilah is beginning to get grumpy at me and I hear McKenna stirring from her nap on the monitor so I had better be off.
Until next time,
Jaime

"Just checking my eyelids for leaks"

So it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm really trying to update the website and post some nice pictures of Lilah on there for you all to see, only it's going much slower than I'd like and there are sooooo many other things we are doing around the house that have taked precedence. Some pictures should be up by the end of this weekend. Shawn and Karen have posted some on their website. As I write this, Lilah is right beside me sleeping (and snoring) away in her little bouncy chair and McKenna and Jaime are sleeping away in the back room. The sleep issue has not been good lately, as anyone with a new baby can tell you. Lilah has been sleeping most of the day and has been up every hour or two at night for feedings and just to say hello...or as she puts it "Waaaaa". She seems to sleep better with noise and lights around. I'm hoping by keeping Lilah back in the man room with me, Jaime can actually get some much needed rest for herself (at least until Lilah deems it necessary to feast again.
McKenna is doing great, she is really good at being a big sister. She's very protective and when Lilah is crying she quickly runs over and strokes her hair and yells "it's OK, shhhhh, it's OK...". She just finished up her last day of day care on Thursday, which she will miss a lot, but it will be great bonding time with Mommy and little sister for her.
I finally got Lilah's room finished today and it mostly put back together again. Jaime still has to decorate with some wall hanging and etc, but the paint and trim are all done. I still have 3 doors to paint and some misc door trim to put up around the house over the new doors that we purchased and installed about 5 or 6 months ago.
We were frantically trying to get as much stuff done around the house as possible before Lilah's arrival, but it seems we were way to ambitious as a lot of that stuff is still on the To Do List. We did get the man room reorganized and all of the swords re-hung on one wall and touched up all of the paint around the house. I got Lasik surgery on my eyes and am recovering very nicely. I've been back for 2 follow up appointment so far and am seeing a little better than 20-15. (20-20 is what most people would call great visions, and 20-15 is better than that!).
Well, I best be waking up Jaime now, somebody wants to snack.
Thank you all for the emails, cards, and presents this past week. It's really nice to know we have so many people that care so much.

"Run Doctor Run" -Jaime

A Play by Play

Wednesday 23rd-6:28 PM, Start regular contractions

• Thursday 24th-4:30 AM, Contractions are 6-8 minutes apart and steady, called hospital because Jaime thought she'd like to go in, they said to wait until they are 3-5 minutes apart and steady.
• 5:00 PM, At Jaime's last regularly scheduled OBGYN appointment Dr Welcome says she's 2-1/2 cm & strips the membranes to try to speed along the birth.
• Friday 25th-12:35 AM, Called hospital and told them we were on the way, contractions 4-6 minutes apart and stronger.
• 1:00 AM, Checked into Triage at Providence Hospital. Still 2-1/2 cm & 5-7 minutes apart. They say we aren't in active labor yet and to go for a walk for an hour around the hospital and come back to reevaluate.
• 3:05 AM, Almost 3 cm, still 5-7 minutes apart. The baby's heartbeat is a little irregular during contractions and they admit us for closer monitoring.
• 5:05 AM, Dr Wong says he wants to induce labor because of the irregular heart patterns and will give Jaime some pitocin and break her water soon. He says good to go for an epidural whenever it's wanted
• 5:35 AM, Started pitocin
• 6:00 AM, Dr Wong said Jaime is 4-1/2 cm. Contractions are now 2-4 minutes. Epidural has been ordered as was an internal heart monitor for the baby.
• 6:25 AM, the anesthesiologist came to administer the epidural
• 7:07 AM, Epi seems to have worked on the first try (unlike w/ McKenna)
• 7:10 AM, Dr Welcome stops by to say hello on her way past
• 7:20 AM, Catheter installed, 5 cm
• 9:00 AM, the water broke all by itself (some of it). 6 cm, 90% effaced. Stopped pitocin for awhile.
• 9:15 AM, Dr Anderson came in and ruptered some more of the water sack, inserted a monitor tube to more accurately track and monitor the contractions with the baby's heart beat. Said they were watching for possible premature placenta seperation or an umbilical cord obstruction. Nothing to worry about yet.
• 11:10 AM, 6-1/2-7 cm, not alot of change. Contractions are spaced farther apart now. Started pitocen up again.
• 12:15 PM, Strong urge to push. 9 cm, 100% effaced
• 12:25 PM, "Run Doctor Run" Jaime says to the nurse who just told her the doctor was on the way so they could start the delivery.
• 12:30 PM, The baby is upside down, (still head down but the incorrect way). Dr Anderson is successful in turning the baby to the correct position the during some of the next contractions.
• 12:36 PM, It's a head, fully stocked with long black hair. The umbilical cord is wrapped loosely around the baby's head as well as on arm is coming out with the head (Almost like she's waving to us) The doctor is able to slip the cord off with no problems.
• 12:38 PM, Welcome to the world Lilah Delaney Beadnell! 8 lbs 4 ounces, 19" long, 13-1/2" head. Lots of tests and the typical new stuff ensues, Scores 9's in her APGAR.
• 5:05 PM, We all are able to sleep, and/or rest for about 2 hours together. This little family unit (minus one) is Very Tired!
  
  Can't wait to see McKenna and introduce her to her beautiful new baby sister :)
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  More to come and pictures too after we get home and settled in, keep checking back! You might try LIGHTTHIEF.NET for some immediate pictures!